5758 in ReviewThe Valley of the SunVICKI CABOT
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 A community celebration in Scottsdale, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, drew revelers young and old, including then 16-month-old Ori Rotter, to mark Israel's 50th anniversary in May. |
The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix's Commission on Jewish Continuity and Community took the lead in funding a variety of programs that crossed traditional organizational lines, forging new partnerships to develop innovative programs more responsive to contemporary needs. Education was a key concern, and efforts were expanded to find new ways to increase Jewish knowledge and understanding.
Synagogue life flourished, as new building continued and membership expanded. The arrival of several new spiritual leaders also added to a sense of enhanced religious commitment.
Jewish News celebrated its first 50 years of community coverage with a special commemorative edition. Community events, such as the celebration of Israel's 50th anniversary and the Amazing Jewish Family Affair, reflected a promising cohesiveness, crossing age, family and geographic lines.
And even as Israel's troubling conversion controversy, inspired by proposed legislation officially recognizing only Orthodox conversions in the Jewish state, induced denominational divisiveness, there was an effort to reach out to the marginalized in the community.
Also evident was a desire for hands-on opportunities to perform good deeds, perhaps a reflection of a growing fascination with Jewish spirituality and matters of the soul. Valley Jews became more proactive politically and socially, seeking increased dialogue and interaction with the general community.
In 5758, Jews in the Valley committed to making Jewish life more meaningful for more people in more ways than ever before. The notion of community became vested with the notion of family, spawning myriad challenges for the new year ahead.
September/October 1997
State Jewish and civil rights leaders take sides on a lawsuit challenging a law allowing income tax credits for donations to private school foundations.
The community honors Jean and Harold Grossman at the 56th annual meeting of the federation, while the Belle Latchman Community Service Award goes to five congregations for their outreach program "A Taste of Judaism
Parents in the Valley complain about the scheduling of interscholastic activities on Jewish holidays.
A search for a new spiritual leader at Temple Emanuel in Tempe begins, as Rabbi David Pinkwasser has announced his intention to step down.
The Bureau of Jewish Education's Phoenix High School of Jewish Studies partners with Habitat for Humanity to build a 1,600-square-foot home in Mesa for a needy family.
An exhibit of photos and letters received by Holocaust survivor Gerda Klein, in response to her life story, opens at Arizona State University's Hayden Library Special Collections department.
Miracle Mile deli celebrates 40 years at its Park Central location.
Jonathan Seidel begins teaching a course in Jewish mysticism at Ruach Hamidbar-Spirit of the Desert.
Daniel Goldhagen, author of the "Hitler's Willing Executioners," speaks to a record crowd at ASU's Gammage Auditorium.
A Jewish community radio show, sponsored by the federation, begins airing Sunday mornings.
Members of Arizona's congressional delegation take the lead in pushing for legislation to halt the transfer of Russian missile technology to Iran.
November 1997
Paradise Valley school officials apologize for faculty involvement in a talent show sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes that included professional performers and athletes singing and preaching about Jesus.
The Commission on Jewish Continuity and Community awards 21 grants totaling $176,755 to programs partnering federation-affiliated agencies with area congregations or other communal groups.
The Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center Task Force contracts with the Chicago-based Levenberg Marketing Group to conduct a long-awaited needs assessment study for the proposed JCC facility at 40th Street and Shea Boulevard.
In a controversial move, Congregation Bais Menachem spiritual leader Rabbi Zalman Levertov offers monetary incentives to local school children to skip school and attend Simchat Torah services at his congregation. Chabad Arizona expands into Chandler, bringing Rabbi Mendy Deitsch to the Valley to lead the fledgling effort.
The Phoenix Community Eruv, defining an area where the Sabbath proscriptions against pushing and carrying are lifted, opens in central Phoenix.
December 1997
After months of discussion and compromise, the Jewish Community High School Committee hammers out a "transdenominational" vision statement for a school that would appeal to Jews of all levels of observance.
Temple Chai launches a $2.2 million campaign to pay for a variety of ongoing programs and facility enhancements.
The Anti-Defamation League provides religious tolerance training for the Paradise Valley Unified School District.
The Phoenix Jewish Free Loan Association receives a large grant from the estate of George Ritzer, a longtime New York clothing manufacturer.
Seniors benefit from federation funding for transportation services.
Temple Solel Day School plans to add a fourth-grade class next year, with a fifth-grade class the following year.
Philanthropist Charles Bronfman, co-chairman of Seagram Company Ltd., draws record numbers to a federation Young Leadership Division event.
Arizona Gov. Jane Hull lights the first candle on the menorah at the federation's Israel at 50 anniversary Hanukkah celebration.
January 1998
Temple B'rith Shalom of Prescott dedicates its new building.
The Arizona-Israel Chamber of Commerce closes, after more than two years of working to establish trade ties between Arizona and Israeli businesses.
The Board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix calls on local Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis to issue a "statement of respect" for non-Orthodox movements. Chabad-Lubavitch Center announces plans to open its own college-preparatory Jewish high school in the fall.
Two vandals are sentenced in Maricopa County Superior Court for the 1995 desecration of Beth El Congregation.
Jewish Parenting Initiative grants, made possible through an $85,000 donation from Steven Spielberg's Righteous Persons' Foundation, are awarded to five agencies for outreach programming.
February 1998
Violinist Itzhak Perlman kicks off the "L'Chaim" cultural series, co-sponsored by the federation and ASU Special Events and organized in conjunction with ASU Hillel, in honor of Israel's 50th anniversary.
Vice President Al Gore addresses a "global gathering" of Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science here.
U.S. District Court Judge Barry Silverman is named to the 9th District Court of Appeals.
The UJA/Federation campaign rings up a record $504,486 in pledges on Super Sunday.
The Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee join a coalition to save affirmative action in Arizona.
The 1998 Israeli Film Festival, co-sponsored by the federation, the Consulate General of Israel and Harkins Theatres, offers five contemporary films.
Arizona Jewish Theater Company marks its 10th anniversary with a presentation of highlights from its productions over the past decade.
A mysterious stranger, later identified as a mentally ill Canadian man, burns about $3,000 worth of books and prayer shawls at Beth Joseph Congregation.
March 1998
Hundreds rally at ASU West in support of assistant professor Batya Hyman, who had been a target of anti-Semitic and anti-gay vandalism.
Temple Solel's Rabbi Maynard Bell celebrates 20 years as the Reform congregation's spiritual leader, and Rabbi Bonnie Koppell marks a decade at Conservative Temple Beth Sholom in Mesa.
More than 50 agencies and organizations participate in the federation's Amazing Jewish Family Affair, attracting an estimated crowd of more than 2,000 adults and children to the community event.
Hadassah national President Marlene Post visits the Valley.
April 1998
Dr. Ruth Westheimer headlines the annual Solomon Schechter Masked Ball.
Al and Fran Sachs establish a new fund at the Jewish Free Loan Association to aid young couples seeking to adopt children.
Five Valley Reform congregations team up with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations to present special workshops addressing the unique challenges facing interfaith families.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture grants $200,000 to a project to bring Israeli irrigation techniques to Hopi farmers in Arizona.
Jewish News Editor and Publisher Flo Eckstein and her mother, Pearl Newmark, who served as editor of the paper for 20 years, are honored by Israel Bonds.
The Valley toasts Israel at 50 with a festive, all-day community celebration, and the Jewish News publishes a special commemorative issue.
Anti-Semitic graffiti is found at Temple Chai.
May 1998
The Valley of the Sun JCC hires Mark Shore as its new executive director and contracts with Langdon Wilson Architecture to draw up site plan designs for its proposed new facility at 40th Street and Shea Boulevard.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Jewish National Fund team up for pre-game festivities in honor of Israel's 50th anniversary.
Ariel Sharon, Israel's infrastructure minister, tells a Phoenix audience that Israel should not accede to U.S. pressure to accept the latest American proposal for Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank.
Rabbi Zalman Levertov announces that Chabad's community Jewish high school will open in September.
Scholar Daniel Matt, who wrote "God and the Big Bang," draws parallels between science and Jewish mysticism for Valley audiences.
Twenty-seven adults become b'nai mitzvah at Beth El Congregation on Shavuot.
June 1998
Rabbi Albert Plotkin speaks at funeral services for longtime U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, the one-time Republican candidate for president, an Episcopalian whose father was Jewish, and who is remembered in the Valley as a friend of the Jewish community.
Jewish News celebrates 50 years with a special commemorative edition and a birthday party, thrown by campers at JCC day camp, complete with cards, candles and a huge chocolate cake.
Har Zion Congregation announces plans to expand its facilities just one year after moving into a new building in northeast Phoenix.
The federation allocates $1,139,073 to its nine constituent agencies.
July 1998
The World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jews holds its three-day 1998 Western Regional Conference in the Valley.
U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon visits Israel to ask Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cooperate on bringing to justice murderers of American citizens killed in Israel in recent years.
Thirty-five programs serving the Valley's Jewish community receive a total of
$271, 033 in federation grants through the Commission on Jewish Continuity and Community.
A young man convicted in the 1995 defacing of Beth El Congregation repents and seeks to make amends.
Temple Beth Israel welcomes Rabbi Barry Cohen as its assistant rabbi, and Temple Emanuel in Tempe welcomes Rabbi Andrew Straus as its new spiritual leader.
August/September 1998
Bank One Ballpark adds glatt kosher (strictly kosher) hot dogs to its concession offerings.
Hillel at ASU and the Bureau of Jewish Education join forces to organize Maccabee Clubs on local high school campuses for Jewish teens.
Distinguished scholar Dr. Norbert Samuelson assumes the Harold and Jean Grossman chair of Jewish studies at Arizona State University.
Immediate past federation president Elaine Schreiber is named Western region chair of the newly merged United Jewish Appeal/Council of Jewish Federations.
The Council for Jews with Special Needs signs on as a sponsor of a national campaign focused on the need to make congregation facilities accessible to the disabled.
Backers push for an Arizona state trade office in Israel.
Temple Beth Israel decides to return to Phoenix Symphony Hall for High Holiday services.
Results of the Jewish Community Center needs' assessment survey indicate that Valley Jews want a central gathering place providing a wide variety of services.
